and pioneer of nonsense poetry . All of these men would go on to contribute more conventional learned poems to university collections .
Nevertheless , Elizabeth did not come : Goldring et al , eds ., Nichols ’ s Progresses ( Oxford , 2015 ), vol . 4 , p . 129 , present a letter showing that Elizabeth planned an ‘ intended progress to Northwiltshire ’ in August 1600 , and in 1601 she intended to get as far as Littlecote House in Wiltshire , seat of Sir John Popham , Chief Justice of the King ’ s Bench . But she only reached ‘ Basing ’, i . e . Basing House , Hampshire , belonging to the Marquis of Winchester ( ibid ., vol . 4 , pp . 163 , 164 ). The best interpretation on current evidence is that the Winchester community learnt that the usual annual progress of the monarch was to lead her near the college , and for some reason an actual visit was anticipated . There is no evidence one took place , however .
The next significant manuscript , Bodleian , MS Add . A . 276 , comprising verses on the accession of James VI & I , includes nine shaped poems , five in Greek and four in Latin , but unfortunately there are no attributions anywhere in this manuscript , and this surviving text is an imperfect copy of some kind ( nos . 13-17 ). Some of the forms are so complex that it is tempting to think that the copyist must have been the author of at least a few of the pattern poems , but this cannot be proved .
The final pertinent collection traced so far is Bodleian , MS Tanner 466 , section 2 , copies of verses on the visit of Prince Charles in 1618 . This is replete with verbal tricks such as anagrams , chronograms , and acrostics , but contains only one truly shaped poem , in the form of a sword ( no . 18 ).
Thereafter the tradition appears to have ceased as a specifically Wykehamist pursuit , although a handful of fine examples are found in other non-Wykehamist university collections , for instance elaborate Greek wings in the 1613 Bodleiomnema on the death of Sir Thomas Bodley , probably by Bodley ’ s brother Laurence , of Christ Church . Shaped poetry almost entirely disappears from school and university collections after the Jacobean period .
Poems 1-5 from Richard Willes , Poematum liber ( London , 1573 )
Author : Richard Willes ( 1549 – 1579 ?). From Pulham , Dorset , Willes entered Winchester as a Scholar in 1558 and matriculated at New College in 1562 , but was deprived of his scholarship two years later because of his continued
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